The Lies We Tell (The Four 1)

“Hey, wait. Where’s everyone?” The driveway was completely empty.

He paused with his hand on the door and turned back around to face me. “Don’t know where Cass is. Cade and West have gone to pick your car up.”

He disappeared inside the house, leaving the door open for me. I reached the front steps when I heard the distinct low, throaty purr of Caiden’s R8 and spun around.

He stepped out, and I drank him in.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” He was distant, closed off, his face an inscrutable mask.

“Winter!” came the shout, and I tore my eyes away from Caiden’s to see Weston grinning at me, standing next to my car.

Except it wasn’t my car.

“What happened to my car?” I ran towards Weston and skidded to a halt in front of my little Fiat 500.

“Caiden asked the garage to make a few improvements,” he told me in a low voice. “And don’t let his appearance fool you—I think inside he’s second-guessing himself, thinking maybe he made the wrong decision. What your reaction might be, you know?”

My gaze bounced between Weston, Caiden, and my car.

“How much do I owe for all this?” I whispered to West.

“Nothing. Cade felt bad about vandalising your door. Not just that. Bad in general, I think, for all the shit he did to you. So he took care of it.”

My heart started beating faster.

I took a step closer to my car and trailed my hand over the smooth metal, my lips curving into a smile. The scratched and chipped burgundy colour was gone, replaced with matte-black paintwork. The exact same paintwork that Zayde’s bike and Cade and Cass’ cars sported. I walked around the car, examining it from every angle, noting the tinted windows and the huge shiny black rims complete with low-profile tyres.

Honestly? I think I was in shock.

When I reached the front of the car again, I glanced over at Cade, who was still watching me impassively, and turned to West, who had a huge grin on his face. “Thanks. Can you give us a minute?”

“Yep.” He gave me a quick hug and bounded into the house, leaving me and Caiden alone.

We stared at each other.

I moved closer to him.

“Why?”

He shrugged, his hands in his pockets, leaning against the side of his car. “Because.” His tone was final.

“Okay. Well, thank you. I don’t know what to say, other than I love it. So much.” I stood awkwardly in front of him, scuffing my toe in the gravel. He looked at me in silence for a minute, then made a low noise in the back of his throat and grabbed me around the back of the neck, spinning me so I was pressed up against his car.

Then his mouth was on mine, and I was lost in him.

He gripped my neck more tightly, kissing me fiercely, and I pulled him closer, returning his kiss with everything I had. Butterflies were rioting low inside my stomach, and I moaned, gripping his ass as he thrust his growing hardness against me.

“You two gonna stay out there all night, or what? Come on, me and Z are waiting to order pizza.” Weston’s shout interrupted our moment, and Cade released my neck, stepping back, running a hand through his hair. He looked about as dazed as I felt.

I collapsed back against the car, short of breath, my heart racing, trying to gather my composure. Once my breathing had mostly returned to normal, I moved over to Zayde’s bike, where I’d left my bag.

“Come on.” Caiden inclined his head towards the house, and I followed him inside. He stopped me in the empty hallway just outside the lounge. “We’ll continue that later.” Dipping his head, he kissed the tip of my nose, then tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, before strolling into the lounge to meet the others. What were we doing? Were we still just “fucking,” as he’d put it, or was West right? Was he starting to like me more? He was bloody impossible to read.

I sighed. No point worrying about it now, anyway. While things were going well, I didn’t want to rock the boat.

My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten since breakfast.